Dear Jennet
by UnforgettableHearts
Summary: Rewritten I stand outside the house looking over the sea near to where the marshes are, tears stream down my face and for the first time I find myself grieving closing my eyes I imagine he is here standing beside me comforting me. "Jennet." A husky voice whispers to me. "Yes?" I ask. "Open your eyes." So I opened my eyes and stood there shocked. "I love you." He whispers.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello guys well first off sorry I have been really quiet these past few months, I've been trying to think of a story to post on this website and well I couldn't think of anything. So I have decided to re-post Dear Jennet. I have also rewritten it so hopefully people won't get bored of this version. Anyway as always I own nothing except the plot of this fanfiction story. **

**As for Unclaimed Love, I have decided to take a break from it, I may write a new story I may not but for now I am sticking with Dear Jennet please R&R I would like to know your opinions on this one please. They mean a lot to me and if I do get reviews I will know whether or not it is good or not to continue with writing this. I have spent a few months writing a few chapters for it. So I will be posting hopefully chapter two soon on here.**

Dear Jennet

Chapter One

"Jennet will you please consider Mr Hardy's proposal?" My mother had brought up this conversation again. Basically my parents had been bringing suitors to the house and I had rejected every single one of them.

"Why should I consider his proposal?" I questioned her.

"He's a good man and he would make a fine husband would he not? Your sister Alice is getting married in nine months time and even she has the decency to not reject every single man that comes up to her to ask for her hand in marriage." My mother complained.

We were sitting in one of the living rooms in the house. We lived in Yorkshire in the countryside. I hated living here why did I have to meet all these suitors that would be invited to the house every so often? I stared back at my mother I was sitting on one of the armchairs next to the large fireplace watching the yellow flames move rapidly.

"On the contrary he is very handsome but he was impudent towards me today why should I marry a man with that sort of attitude?" I exclaimed.

"You should marry him because he is rich and he is a very decent man." She stated.

"Really mother I think he is far from decent." I did my best to avoid rolling my eyes up at her how could she possibly call him a decent man? He was far from it.

"Then what is your definition of decent?" She spat the words out spitefully.

"My definition of decent is a person that thinks about others before themselves, one that ignores rude people and is always kind and considerate of the ones they love." I responded back truthfully.

"Mr Hardy is all of those things." My mother almost shouted.

"Forgive me mother but he is not all of those things. He is rude towards me and he isn't decent all he ever spoke about was hoping to get me into bed and hopefully bearing his children one day that is not the sort of man that lives up to my expectations." I explained calmly.

"You: despicable child! You will go back to Mr Hardy tell him you have changed your mind and you will marry him after you have apologised for your pitiful behaviour." She raised her voice.

"I will never marry him!" I raised my voice I really had, had enough of this conversation. Without any other words to my mother I made my way quickly out of the living room and into the hallway until I reached the staircase.

I ignored my mother's yells from the living room and continued to walk up the stairs I heard the stairs creak every time I took another step honestly one of these days there will be an accident and it will be their fault because they didn't bother fixing the problem with the staircase.

I wasn't wearing anything very special but then again I never wear anything special now do I? I had on a simple dark brown dress that covered my pale arms and legs. Also my black shoes were hidden from the length of the dress and lastly but not least I had my dark hair tied back in a tight bun.

The argument had somehow made me feel ill and without any hesitation I walked faster up the staircase until I reached my bedroom the third door on the right on the first floor. I opened my door to my bedroom before slamming it shut behind me. I really wasn't much of a beauty to be honest I had dark brown eyes but that was all I had that seemed to be beautiful.

Alice however was quite a beauty there was no doubt about that. She had lovely light chestnut brown hair that sat on her back, light blue eyes, pale skin but not as pale as mine and had a very slim figure for her age which was twenty four.

As for me I was twenty years old, unmarried and still a virgin not like I cared if I was one or not. The point was I despised men every single man I had come across had been nothing but rude and my parents just couldn't accept the fact that I didn't want to marry anyone that they thought would be a marvellous match for me.

As I recalled correctly when I had been sitting down there with my own mother she had been wearing the same dress she had been wearing yesterday. A long black fabric dress that covered her arms and legs, her grey hair had been tied back in a bun, and her light blue eyes were focusing on me. Her wrinkly old visage was still very pale as if I had been looking at something else that wasn't my mother perhaps I should say that I had been talking to the devil or maybe that would be too harsh to say but in all honesty I hated living with my parents.

My mother's words circulated in my mind_ "You: despicable child! You will go back to Mr Hardy tell him you have changed your mind and you will marry him after you have apologised for your pitiful behaviour."_ Really if she had any love for me she wouldn't have spoken to me like that.

I ambled over towards one of my bedroom windows looking out at the magnificent view beyond the garden were beautiful mountains when I was a child I often envisioned myself leaving this god forsaken house and moving far away from here to somewhere quiet, somewhere where I didn't have to listen to my mother's irritating voice and her commands all the time.

I continued to look out of my window until I felt quite weary probably because of the argument. A sigh heaved my lips before making my way towards my small single bed, my bedroom wasn't anything fancy it was plain and simple.

There was one wardrobe in front of the bed, the floor was a light-brown wooden colour, the ceiling was white like the shade of snow and so were the walls. My bed had a black duvet to cover the white clean sheets on it and before I knew it I had drifted off into what I hoped to be a peaceful slumber.

"_Jennet, Jennet! Come and play with me!" Alice shouted. She was sitting on the marble white floor in the nursery. The dolls were laid out on the ground along with some cups that we would often use for the tea. _

_I sighed quietly before scanning what she was wearing. She wore a white dress that had yellow flowers embroidered on the front, white tights with black boots that she often wore if she was going out into the garden. I walked over towards my own sister in the nursery closing the door behind me and sitting down next to her gazing at the dolls then at her. _

"_What do you wish to play?" I asked bluntly._

"_Really Jennet try and be more intelligent than that. How about we play Red-handed dolls?" She suggested while sounding giddy at the same time. _

_I rolled up my eyes for a moment or two she knew I found the game quite boring at times. It was basically called red-handed dolls because you had to have a doll (obviously) that you had to hide in a safe place. But you had to give the place you were hiding your doll in a name and stay there and create your own army to protect your hidden place and your doll. However, whoever was trying to find you and your doll had to try and catch you first and if they caught you, you would have no choice but to give up your doll and your army before saying "Red-handed doll!" Sometimes I found it boring because I always ended up going after Alice. _

_I was eight years old and she was twelve years old. I wasn't wearing anything special just a plain white satin fabric dress, white tights and a pair of small black boots. _

"_You know I find that game boring." I stated. _

"_Jennet the game only gets boring for you because you always hide in the same place every time I go and find you." She chuckled sweetly. _

"_No I always have to come and find you. You never bother to come and find me for once." I exclaimed._

"_Okay then we'll play it one last time and this time I will come and find you. I'll count to a hundred and that should give you plenty of time to find a good hiding place for you, your doll and to create your army." She promised. _

"_Very well but you better close your eyes because you can't peak." I warned her._

"_I will not peak I promise Jennet." She assured me. _

_I nodded before telling her to start the game. _

"_You have to choose a doll." She pointed out._

"_I will once you close your eyes." I started to get fed up with her pathetic statements._

"_Okay there's no need to shout at me." She said crossing her arms._

"_So hurry up and start the game!" I complained. _

_She turned around covered her eyes with one of her hands and started to count. I quickly grabbed one of the dolls that had been dressed up in a light blue long-sleeved dress, a pair of white cotton socks and a pair of black shoes. It had curly blonde long hair, a pair of dark blue eyes with lovely vibrant red lips that I imagined when I was five years old to be kissable to any other doll if we ever had a male doll I would match her up with one and make sure he would treat her the way any lady should be treated with respect and dignity._

_I called her Jenny. _

_I grabbed her and ran out of the nursery making my way into one of the old spare bedrooms where I'm sure Alice wouldn't be able to find me in. I chuckled to myself victory was mine! There was a wardrobe in the room and I ambled into it while carrying Jenny in my hand securely. And instead of the wardrobe coming to a dead end like any normal wardrobe would do there was another door on the end of it and I wondered whether or not I should open it or not oh well it wasn't as if I was doing anything wrong right? After a few minutes of hesitation I opened the door and my eyes widened as I looked down to where my feet where there was what looked like a large step with a ladder standing on another piece of ground how weird was this? I thought. It was like stepping into my own world of Narnia. _

_I turned around and stepped down the ladder and once I had come to the last step I looked around. I couldn't believe what was down here. There were loads of stuff down here like an old doll house, old stuffed teddy bears and some old puppets that looked tired and as if they had been treated badly. I ambled closer to the old doll house while looking at Jenny._

"_What is so special about this place? I bet mother has been keeping this a secret for many years don't you agree Jenny?" I looked at her closely. _

"_This is going to be our secret place from now on and if you dare betray me I will make sure not to play with you again." I told her seriously. _

_I made sure to put Jenny into the small doll house and carry some old other dolls over towards the house making sure they were guarding it. _

"_Okay you will now protect this house and Jenny you will never let any harm come to her or the house because if you do I will never forgive you, and I mean it never forgive!" I almost shouted out the last few words of my sentence to them._

_I waited for a few minutes and for some strange reason I could somehow hear Alice's voice echoing through the walls. I sat down on the floor for a while before feeling bored and tired of waiting on her I wasn't her pet after all even if we were playing some stupid game. _

_I grabbed Jenny from the doll house and made my way out of the wardrobe smiling to myself and quietly made my way out of the spare bedroom and made my way back towards my bedroom. I wondered if that had been my imagination. There was no way a wardrobe could have a door at the end of it, then have a ladder that you had to climb down in order to find an attic or something like that with old toys and dolls that weren't even mine. _

_I ambled into my bedroom closing the door behind me only to see my mother looking at me closely; she was wearing a black fabric dress with a white collar on it. It touched the ground, and within seconds she trotted over towards me grabbed me by the hair and started shouting at me._

"_Where were you? You little runt! Alice was looking all over for you and she couldn't find you in the gardens where in the world have you been?" She screamed at me hitting me on the back painfully. _

"_Mother you're hurting me." The tears were already streaming down my face. _

"_You little bitch that isn't an answer to my question." She slapped me hard across my face before throwing me down on the ground and leaving my room. _

I opened my eyes only to find myself gasping in surprise I checked my surroundings I was in my bedroom and thankfully my mother wasn't in my room.

"Christ when will these nightmares stop?" I muttered underneath my shallow breath.

I looked towards one of the walls that had a small mirror on it and noticed that my bun was a complete mess probably from laying down on my pillow. I found myself sighing taking out the hairpin that I had been keeping in my hair to keep my bun in place. My hair sat down upon my waist, and hoping to rid my thoughts of my nightmare I made my way over towards one of my bedroom windows again gazing out at the sunset, it had gorgeous hues of red, pink and yellow I could almost paint it on a canvas if I had one on me now.

After a few minutes I found myself almost daydreaming just by gazing out at the amazing view until I was brought out of my daydream by the sound of loud knocking and I prayed it wouldn't be my mother not after the nightmare.

"Who is it?" I found myself asking.

"It's me Alice." My sister answered.

"Come in then." I instructed.

I watched as the door opened and Alice came in looking lovely like she always had. She carried a warm smile upon her red luminous lips; her face was so clear no dimples or anything on it. Her hair was tied back in a tight neat bun and she was wearing a long dark blue dress with small buttons on the front of it. It was a long-sleeved dress that covered her arms. However, despite it being an elegant frock for her to wear it looked more like an evening dress and it wasn't a dress that I would wear.

She closed the door behind her making her way over to me and within seconds she sat down beside me upon the bed.

"How are you? Jennet: dear." She asked me calmly before stroking my cheeks lovingly.

"Tired of mama and papa inviting men to the house I find it most inappropriate." I answered.

"Jennet they just want to see you happily married." She stated.

"But shouldn't I be given the chance to find the person that I wish to marry?" I sighed heavily in frustration.

"Jennet dear mother and father would not approve of that suggestion and you know fine rightly they wouldn't why not try and give Mr Hardy a chance?" I felt sick inside when she mentioned his name.

"You would want me to give that man a chance: so he can just have the: opportunity to insult me, then get me into bed with him and I bet if I became pregnant with his child he would leave me so no I will not marry a man like Mr Hardy." I told her.

"I didn't suggest such a thing but you are coming of age dear sister and men will take notice of you. You must marry soon." Gee all this talk of marriage was melting my brain.

"I don't want to marry anyone. All of the men that mother and father have invited into the house because they thought they would be good suitors have all been impudent, selfish, and ignorant. I don't want a husband like that. I want to marry a decent man. I want a man that will marry me because of who I am who will love and accept me. I want a man that won't mind if I am a virgin or not. I hate men that talk about virginity as if it was something disgusting and above all I hate men that call women whores. I feel sorry for the women that lose their virginity to the wrong men. To me women are still very pure even if they are no longer virgins. The only ones that are impure to me are the ones that are sluts and prostitutes." I explained.

"Jennet I am getting married in nine months time to a man that is twice my age I'm sure he loves me but then again love has nothing to do with tradition." She pointed out.

"Well love is very important to me." I stated.

"I know who knows maybe one day the right man will come to you and make you happy." She gave me a hug.

"I hope that is true." I folded my arms across my chest. I so wanted to be out of this house once and for all.

"Anyway, dinner is ready. Mother shouted upstairs about twenty minutes ago but she thought you didn't hear her and I decided to come and get you. We better not keep them waiting." Alice explained.

"I'm not hungry, you can go downstairs and sit with them but I will not." I almost said harshly.

"Come on Jennet. You really should come downstairs to have dinner you have hardly eaten anything today please come downstairs for dinner just to have a bite to eat for me." She pleaded out.

"You expect me to come downstairs and listen to mother's insults? After: what she had said to me? Oh: no." I exclaimed.

"No I don't expect you to listen to her insults and yes she shouldn't have said the things she did say to you but please come down to have something to eat." She stated.

"Fine I will come down." I gave up.

I followed Alice out of my bedroom closing the door behind us before heading down the staircase. Once we had reached the ground floor I watched Alice open one of the doors on the right-hand side. It was the dining room.

Mother and father were already sitting beside each other at the table, the walls were an emerald green colour, and the large table that was shaped like a long rectangle had already been set. It had already been covered by a long table white cloth. I watched Alice enter the room receiving a smile from our parents like always.

When I entered the room I already knew what to expect from my parents a firm line from my father and a rude scowl from mother.

"Young lady you are late for dinner." My father stated.

"Forgive me father I was sleeping." I replied.

"You lazy little leech." My mother lashed out.

"Now now Margaret I'm sure there is an explanation." Father silenced her.

"I'm afraid that is my fault father." Alice decided to speak up.

"My: dear child?" He raised an eyebrow up at her.

"After Jennet and mother had ended their argument, I asked Jennet if she wanted to do some embroidery with me to take her minds off of things. When we were doing some embroidery in my room she became quite weary after a while and I suggested that she should take a nap and she did." Of course that was a lie because I never came to her room to do embroidery.

Father looked at us closely before speaking to me again.

"Well child, are you feeling any better now?" He asked me.

"I'm well father." I answered profoundly.

"Take a seat then at the table." He motioned me to sit down at the table.

I pulled out one of the seats at the table before sitting down and pulling myself into the table. There were white napkins folded neatly in the empty wine glasses, silver cutlery had been set out carefully on the table.

Alice sat next to me giving me a faint smile, she was about to speak again but mother had beaten her to it.

"Young lady I hope you have reconsidered about Mr Hardy's proposal." She said bitterly.

"I will not marry him." I confirmed.

"Dear you're coming of age you must marry soon." My father tried to calm the frustration between us down.

"Yes I understand I am coming of age but I want to marry someone of my own choice." I announced.

"That is preposterous! You're just a child." My mother stretched out every word that escaped her mouth.

"I am no longer a child, I am a woman." I reminded her.

"Yes a very immature woman." My mother threw me one of her insults.

"Now Margaret please we don't want any arguments here at the dinner table." My father tried to break the tension.

"Dear will you say grace?" Finally she had decided to abandon the subject for now.

"Don't I always say grace at the dinner table?" He noted before closing his eyes and said grace.

"Amen." We all said at the same time before eating our dinner.

There was sirloin steak medium rare for me and Alice I'm guessing since we were the only ones in this family that preferred medium rare to well done.

Along with the steak were a few vegetables, turnip, carrot and parsnip, boiled potatoes and some gravy on top of the steak.

As everybody was eating away at their food really quickly I ate mine at a slow pace. It was lovely, for once I didn't have to say to mother or father that it was too cold or needed to be heated.

"How is the steak?" Father asked me.

"It is lovely father." I responded back.

"It's nice to see you eating without complaining for once." My mother had to get on my nerves.

"It's nice to eat food that isn't cold or that needs to be heated." I tried sounding calm but failed miserably because I didn't realise how harsh the words actually sounded until they left my lips.

"Jennet, Margaret that is enough. No more arguing at the table." He told us both off as if we were both two little children that had done something naughty.

We ate our food once again in silence until I had finished my meal and asked for a glass of water since I was thirsty and I didn't want any wine.

"I'll get some for you." Alice offered but mother cut her off.

"You will do no such thing in this house! If Jennet wants a drink that is not wine then she can go and get it herself she does not need a babysitter to do it for her." My mother said harshly.

"It's okay Alice I'll get the water." I patted her shoulder.

She nodded in understanding and sat back down in her chair at the table. I left the dining room holding my goblet securely in my right hand heading towards the kitchen in the hallway. I ambled into the kitchen turning on the cold water tap then turning it off again so I could put my silver goblet underneath the sink.

I turned the cold water back on filling my glass up with it. I continued to fill it up until it was halfway full.

Footsteps were soon heard coming near the kitchen. The door to the kitchen opened again and there stood Alice walking towards me.

"You seem to be taking your time with getting a glass of water." She stated.

"I take as much time as I need dear sister." I turned the cold water off.

"Mother is in one of her moods again." I heard her say.

"Well that is her problem: not mine." I noted.

"Jennet will you have sympathy for once?" She tried sounding calm.

"Why should I have sympathy for mother when she has never showed any sympathy towards me? Until she changes her attitude towards me I will never have any sympathy for her at all." I pointed out.

I could feel Alice's eyes on my back as I walked towards the door.

"You're very cruel having no sympathy for mama." She muttered.

"Then if that's what I am to be described as then that is the way I shall be." I mumbled underneath my breath.

I couldn't help but see Alice scowl at me as if I had been a naughty child there. After seeing her scowling at me I left the kitchen with my goblet of cold water in my hand making my way back upstairs I didn't want to be in the company of so called grownups.

My head was sore from today's events I ambled up towards my bedroom, opening the door before closing it with frustration.

Sitting down upon the bed I took a few sips of the cold water, I could somehow hear my mother yelling from downstairs but I refused to listen all I did was sigh deeply. Really why did I have to live here? It got worse day after day, week after week, and year after year.

It was like being in an isolated room where I would be screaming at the top of my lungs and nobody would even look up. I sat there on my bed enduring the silence until Alice barged into my room giving me a death glare.

"What do you want?" I asked bitterly.

"You really ought to take the bitterness out of your tone you know. Dessert is ready." She shot back.

"Well I'm sorry but I have no interest in eating down there with a bunch of hairballs." I snapped.

"Those hairballs are our parents and our guardians." She tried saying calmly but I couldn't miss the seriousness in her sharp tone.

"Oh I shall practice my curtsey." I said sarcastically. I ambled towards my bedroom window only to have Alice speak again.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me Jennet?" She warned me.

"Oh no Alice perhaps you shouldn't turn your back on me." I returned the warning only to see her running towards me and stopped in front of me.

"Is that a challenge?" She barked out.

"Temper, temper I wouldn't dream of challenging you." I admitted.

"Pity why not?" She questioned me.

"Well as far as our parents our concerned I have a sister that is getting married in nine months time." I snapped.

"And I'm afraid I shall be nothing but a shadow in the darkness." I used a fake sad tone. Truthfully I wasn't depressed I was fed up with all the fighting and everything that had been happening today


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

I sat down in one of the drawing rooms downstairs practising my embroidery for once. I wasn't very good at it, every time I would use a needle to stick into the cloth and try to pull it out I would always end up getting a cut on my hand or on my fingers.

Alice was very good at it; she was like the queen bee of embroidery if you ask me. Never: cutting her fingers or her hands.

Yesterday when Alice and I had one of our arguments I couldn't help but see the frustration in her, it was written all over her. Every time now that we walk past each other instead of a polite conversation or one bit of affection I receive nothing but a simple sigh, a deep sigh from her. At first it didn't bother me at all. I thought she would soon stop it and we would both come to our senses but recently I have somehow begun a terrible habit that no lady should have at all.

Every time I see her now whenever it is just the two of us alone in the room I can't help but stare at her as if I expect her to come to me and say something maybe apologise for irritating me but she doesn't come to me, she doesn't even bother to acknowledge me now.

Earlier on this morning I spotted her sitting down on one of the chairs in one of the living rooms and what I found hurtful the most is the fact that when I came up to her and tried to say something she wouldn't even let me. Instead of trying to listen to me she sighed deeply and left the room leaving me standing there alone watching her leave.

This is not what our bond of being sisters should be like. Alice and I were once close and now I find it hard to feel any comfort in our bond now. It is amazing what one argument can do between the bond and friendship of two sisters.

However, when we are in the company of others such as our parents we do sort of talk but it is not proper talk and then when our masks come off and we are alone all I hear is one big deep sigh and I can feel her eyes on me at times.

I can't help but stare, I know I shouldn't and I know it is a bad habit that I have developed somehow but I can't help it. Like people say we don't always need words for our reasons.

She must think there is something wrong with me since sometimes when I see her she gives me a look as if to say 'what' but I can't help but feel depressed in a way.

Surely one argument could not destroy our bond or could it? I sigh as I look at what I have been sewing and realise that I have ruined the cloth. Mother is sitting on one of the chairs opposite me and when she see's that I have made a mess of the cloth instead of a scowl she narrows her eyes at me.

"Honestly you should be more careful when you are sewing something like this." She complains.

"May I be excused from embroidery I do not feel too great?" I make up an excuse.

"Fine but this is the last time I will excuse you from embroidery." She says sharply.

"Thank you: mamma." I thank her exiting the drawing room and making my way into the kitchen to open the front door only to go into the gardens and sit down on one of the old swings that Alice used to push me on.

I end up sighing deeply as I sit there on the swing, have I really hurt her that badly? I wonder as I continue to look blankly down at the grass that needs cutting.

I sit there for a few hours until it starts to rain heavily outside, great all I need is dark clouds to form in the sky and rain to start making my hair wet and whatnot. It matches my mood perfectly I think before I leave the swing and walk at a steady pace through the rain only to go back inside the house to dry myself off.

"Jennet goodness gracious child are you okay?" Father said coming into the kitchen.

"I'm fine father." I tried easing his worries but he didn't listen he just decided to take me into the library and when he found Alice reading a book in the library he instructed her to bring a few towels with her.

She left the library going upstairs probably to get a few towels.

"Jennet sit down." My father motioned me towards one of the chairs next to the large fireplace where a great fire had been lit.

"Really father I'm fine." Again I tried to reassure him but he just pointed to the chair again. There was no point in trying to convince him so I just sat down on one of the chairs next to the fireplace.

It didn't take long for Alice to get the towels, she hurried down the staircase and came straight back into the library with a few towels in her hands. Father took one of them off her and started to rub my head with one of them since my hair was very damp now from the heavy rain outside.

He took the other one off Alice and placed it around my shoulders.

"You should get warm soon enough." He said caressing my cheeks lovingly.

"Thank you: papa." I thanked him.

I noticed Alice leaving the room without a word to me or to papa so I decided to keep quiet and stare at the yellow flames moving rapidly in the fireplace.

"Robert!" I heard my mother calling my papa by his name. Her voice sometimes gives me a headache especially when she is shouting.

"Yes!" My father responded back.

"Where are you?" She asked.

"I'm in the library with Jennet." I shuddered when my name had been mentioned.

Within a few minutes mama stepped into the library holding that same old death glare on her face when she saw me.

"I thought you were unwell." She said in disbelief.

"I thought a bit of fresh air would help me." I tried to sound reasoning.

"More like: catch your death." She crossed her arms across her chest.

"Jennet: why don't you go upstairs and rest. "My father suggested.

"Robert nonsense she is just doing this for attention." My mother started to make a fuss.

"Margaret: that is enough, if Jennet was doing this for attention I would already know about it." He snapped at her.

"Jennet you may go upstairs and rest." He gave me permission.

I smiled pleasantly towards him and thanked him quietly so only he could hear me. I watched as mother stepped aside to let me exited the library. Once I was out of the library I made my way towards the staircase hearing it creak as I made my way up to my bedroom.

Honestly I am sick of hearing the staircase creak I could almost swear at the sound of the noise. Once I made my way into my bedroom I made sure to close the door behind me and sat down on my bed only to find myself drifting off into what I hoped to be a pleasant slumber.

"_Jennet, Jennet!" I heard someone calling my name as I was resting upon the grass in the garden. I opened my eyes slowly to find that it was Mr Hardy looking down at me. His pale visage was full of what looked like concern but the look in his eyes told a very different story in my opinion they were full of lust. _

_The sun had been shining blissfully today and I had found myself falling asleep in its light. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and slowly got up lifting the book that I had been reading recently today until I had fallen asleep in the sunlight._

"_Mr Hardy what are you doing here?" I questioned him without saying hello or asking him how he was keeping._

"_Oh I came over to see you of a matter of importance." He asked nervously. _

_Mr Hardy was one of these rich men that mama and papa had considered to be a good man of fine qualities and very wealthy also. _

_He was a man of twenty-eight years old, dark black tousled short hair, dark blue eyes and often looked pale and he always dressed very formally in my opinion. Today he had been attired professionally in a black suit, a white long sleeved shirt, a pair of black trousers and a pair of matching shoes. His hands had been covered in a pair of white silk gloves, and his hat was a dark brown colour with a black ribbon wrapped around it. He carried it carefully in his right hand. _

"_Really and what might this matter of importance be?" I asked bluntly. _

_Mr Hardy and I had been introduced to each other last February, which was four months ago, I find him a man of impudence sometimes. Especially when he talks of me bearing his children how can he envision such a thing? Because: I can certainly not imagine myself doing such a thing with him. _

_I walk in front of him so my back is facing his, I walk towards the house but I can hear his footsteps not too far away from me so I know he is following me inside. I finally reach the front door and step inside the house only to hear him close it after me. _

_A deep sigh escapes my lips why has he really come here? What can this matter of importance be? Questions circulate in my mind as I walk down the hallway and enter the kitchen thankfully nobody is in here so we do have a bit of privacy. I sit down at the table on one of the chairs to see him closing the door behind him and walking towards me he is sweating like a pig._

"_What is it you wish to discuss?" I say impatiently._

"_Madam I have been looking for a wife for quite a while now and I must say I have taken quite a liking to you." He starts oh great._

_I immediately want to say something but he continues._

"_And I must say that even now I am feeling drawn to you, it would give me great pleasure if you would consider becoming my wife." I soon cut him off._

"_Sir your proposal is quite genuine but I'm afraid I must decline it." He started speaking again._

"_Please do not decline me as I make it my duty to have you as a wife and to make sure you bear my children." I stood up from my chair._

"_Mr Hardy I will say this for the last time I cannot accept you." I ran out of the kitchen, and out of the house running into the gardens. _

_I wasn't surprised that father and mother had come after me. Father stood there in front me his expression told me perfectly that he was concerned about me while mother stood there beside him sending me death glares._

"_You pathetic girl: how can you refuse Mr Hardy? He is the best chance this family has for a good match and you had to go and ruin it." She screeched out._

"_You cannot force me to marry a man that I do not have feelings for! Please papa I won't marry him please do not make me." My father still stood there quietly._

"_Oh Mr Humfrye tell her to marry him for goodness sake." My mother complained._

"_Mrs Humfrye you may go back to the house, if Jennet marries him then there will be happiness but if she does not wish to marry him then you may scold at her all you wish but I will not be the one taking part in any of it." He explained softly._

"_Thank you: papa." I threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly._

_I ran back towards the house happily to see that Mr Hardy was taking his leave sulking so childish don't you think? I paid no attention and entered the house to be welcomed in the arms of my sister Alice._

I opened my eyes looking around my room to see that nobody was here except for me of course. I slowly got out of bed and made my way towards one of my bedroom windows gazing out at the spectacular view.

My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knocking on my bedroom door.

"Come in." I said seeing mother coming into my bedroom scorning at me.

"I have come to inform you that we are having a party here next Saturday. Mr Hardy and Mr Hinds will be coming here." She explained.

"Yes and?" I apprised her to continue.

"And I'm hoping you will be on your best behaviour and please do accept one of their proposals." She almost pleaded the last part.

"Mother I am not going to be marrying any of them." I almost raised my voice.

"Jennet enough you will be marrying someone one of these days. You cannot live under our roof forever you know." She left closing the door behind her and leaving me again in silence.

I'm sitting in one of the chairs in the library reading one of the books. It's very interesting I must say it is called 'Wuthering Heights' by Emily Bronte.

I am still reading the first chapter and I must say it is very intriguing. I read on until I hear footsteps coming in my direction.

I look up to see that it is father. He is wearing a grey suit with a white-waistcoat, a pair of grey trousers and a pair of black shoes. His white hair reaches just above his shoulders.

"Hello my daughter." He bends down and envelops me in a hug.

"Hello papa." I hug him back until we break it.

"Jennet I am not here to hassle you over marriage or anything. I assume your mother told you about the party." He waits for me to reply.

"Yes papa she did tell me about the party. Father must we have one? I'm tired of all these men proposing to me when I feel nothing for them." I admit.

"I know you are. But we must hope for the best Jennet, we cannot get everything we want in the world you know." He exclaims kindly.

"I understand that father but all I want is to live a normal life away from all this frustration." I respond.

"Jennet darling, you may want to live a normal life but have you any idea of how you're going to do that yet? And: what about your sister Alice? I have noticed you two have become quite distant from each other recently." He explained.

"Well I thought if I found the right person maybe we could move away from here and find ourselves a home of our own. Clearly I am not getting anywhere with that thought of mine because nobody will listen to me. We had a fallout father we haven't spoken since the argument." I softened my tone on the last part.

"Well have you tried to apologise to your sister?" He questioned me.

"Yes but she will not let me say anything to her. Every time I try to say something she just sighs or walks off without a care in the world." I answered.

"Can you think of a reason to why she might be acting like this towards you?" He throws me another question.

"Probably because she does not want to know me anymore after all she has been making it very clear that I do not exist in her world." I answer him.

"I understand. But you and Alice used to be so close why don't you two try sorting it out?" He suggested.

"Father I have tried to apologise but every time I try and turn around and speak she will just walk off immediately without even giving me a chance to apologise so what is the point of me speaking to her?" I gave up.

"Well if that's the way she is going to act towards you then let her do so. I must say I think it is rather rude and childish of her to be this way towards you. A woman in her early twenties should have more sense than this." He exclaimed before leaving the library.

For the rest of the day I spent most of my time in my bedroom away from my parents and my sister. I decided to take my father's advice and let Alice be that way towards me I had to agree with my father a woman in her early twenties should have better sense than this. Of course I would apologise but how can I apologise to her when she won't let me in? She won't do anything except give me a deep sigh and walk off.

I find it rude and hurtful of her to act as if I do not exist as if I am not there at all. Should a sister really act like this? I sighed just wanting to get out of this house.

The next day came I opened my eyes only to see grey clouds outside it looked rather dull and dark making me feel as if I wanted to go back to sleep again never mind getting up in the afternoon.

It was about 12.00 pm in the afternoon I ambled out of my bedroom and made my way towards the bathroom next door to my bedroom. The white marble floor had some hairs on it; clearly the bathroom had not yet been cleaned. The shower was beside the bath on the left-hand side in the small bathroom. I turned to the right where the sink was and walked towards it turning on the cold tap before putting my hands underneath the cold water and throwing some cold water over my face to cool me down.

After a few minutes I left the bathroom and entered my room again making my way towards my wardrobe to see if I could find anything in it that would be nice to wear for today. I searched through the wardrobe that was full of dresses.

I kept on looking until I came to the last dress, which was a black dress with buttons on the front of it. I sighed as I laid it out on the bed and decided I would wear it for today. I got out a pair of white undergarments and a matching bra from one of the shelves in the wardrobe.

I carry them out of the room and into the bathroom next door closing the door behind me. I sigh undressing myself stepping into the shower turning it on to full heat allowing the warm water to cascade down my back naturally.

The feeling of the warm water touching my sensitive skin is relieving it is almost as if it is washing away the memories of yesterday. There is already some shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in the shower.

Within seconds I pour some shampoo into my hands before putting it into my hair and rubbing it in after two washes of shampoo I put some conditioner into my hair and do the same thing before finally cleansing my skin with the shower gel.

After five or ten minutes I finally stepped out of the shower grabbing one of the dry towels off the rail, I wrapped the towel around my body drying myself off before putting on my undergarments and my bra before wrapping the towel once again around my body.

I leave the bathroom walking at a steady pace back into my bedroom to slip on my plain black dress and a pair of white stockings: that I hated wearing but then again my mother would give me lecture if I didn't put them on.

I slipped on a pair of matching black shoes before tying my hair back into a tight bun making my way out of my bedroom and downstairs heading into the garden.

I notice that Alice is already in the garden sitting on one of the swings that we used to play on all the time as children.

When I try to walk up to her she notices that I am there and immediately sighs deeply in an angry sort of way and walks off.

I shake my head in disappointment I am really fed up with everyone. I sit down carefully on the swing and started swinging on the swing while thinking back to one of the memories that I had as a child with Alice.

"_Jennet: do you want to play on the swing?" Alice asks me. It is Sunday and thankfully we came back from church, I hate going to church I have my reasons too. For a start the choir sing too loudly and eventually they give me a headache causing me to mouth the words of the songs that we end up singing in the church. _

_Also it is always cold in church. I was wearing a short sleeved-black dress, a pair of grey tights and a pair of black shoes. While Alice had been attired in a dark navy blue long-sleeved dress, a pair of navy blue tights and a pair of black buckled up shoes. _

_To me I had felt as if I had been attending a funeral since I had been dressed in black but Alice simply loved going to church I don't know why. Perhaps it was because she liked hearing the words of the lord, or perhaps she considered herself quite religious or simply she just enjoyed singing. I didn't know the answer at all. I was twelve years old and Alice was sixteen years old. _

"_I would love to play on the swing only if you push me though." I replied. _

"_Of course I will push you." She said happily. _

_I smiled warmly towards her before plopping myself down on one of the swings and holding on to the swing bars tightly. _

_She slowly pushed me while I moved my legs back and forth like so. _

"_Why must we always go to church on Sunday?" I found myself asking her._

"_We go to church every Sunday Jennet to worship God. Jennet it is important to show our love to him." Alice answered._

"_What if I do not want to love him? What if I only want to love father and you? I don't want to worship anyone at all." I admitted. _

_I didn't have to look behind me to see that she was rolling up her eyes at my statement. _

"_Well Jennet you may not want to love God or worship him but there are people in this family that want to do just that. But everyone has their opinion on God." Alice exclaimed. _

"_Well I still think that I don't want to worship him besides what has he ever done for me?" I pointed out the question to her._

_She sighed deeply while pushing me on the swing for just a few more minutes until she decided to join me on the swing._

"_I hope you don't say that to mama or father you know how mum is when you have one of your breakdowns Jennet anyway let's discuss something else." She suggested. _

_We sat in silence for a while until I decided to break it with a new subject in mind._

"_Alice what do you want to be when you grow up?" I questioned her._

"_I don't know probably a teacher. What about you?" She responded._

"_Probably: a fisherman." I guessed._

"_You can't be a fisherman Jennet, only men become fisherman not women." She pointed out._

"_They don't?" I asked._

"_No they don't." She replied._

"_I guess a teacher." I responded._

"_Not a minister then." She smiled teasing me._

_I ended up laughing and when I did Alice joined in with me. _

_The sun was shining and you could say it was a lovely day to be out in the garden with my dear sister Alice. _

I smiled at the memory I couldn't imagine myself as a teacher now though since I knew I would probably just cause trouble in that sort of job. Oh well I guess you could say that is the way life goes.

How I missed receiving affection from Alice or even having conversations with her. Things have changed now even when I didn't want things to change it seems that God or fate or whatever you want to call it has other plans for us.

My smile fades when I look up and see a bit of lightning and hear the sound of thunder and I get the feeling that it is going to be a wild night tonight.

I make my way back into the house and head upstairs to my room so I can have some privacy. I sat down upon my bed just gazing out at the view from one of my glass windows until I hear my mother shouting from downstairs asking me to come back down.

I sigh before leaving my room and hurrying down the staircase until I end up asking where they are and mother tells me that they are in the dining room. I enter the dining room to see mother and father sitting beside each other like always before I take my seat across from them.

"Sit down Jennet please." Father says pleasantly.

I do as I have been told to do and take a seat at the table.

"My dear, Alice has left the house." Father states: as if he is shocked or something, as if he expects me to do something.

I say nothing though, I don't want to show that I am upset by this and hurt by it. What can I do? I can't do anything perhaps I should've run after her to bring her back but a little voice inside of me tells me differently.

I remain quiet before deciding to leave the dining room, I want space, and I need space. Perhaps this was why Alice had left the house; perhaps she couldn't stick the tension between us both. I am guessing this is what we both need; we need time apart to figure out where we both stand and to figure out if we can be friends again. Perhaps we can be friends again one day but for now time apart is what we both need and our bond will only grow stronger and get better if we are away from each other for the time being.

I make my way towards the drawing room and enter the room before sitting down on one of the chairs next to the large fireplace while swinging on the chair back and forth while staring at the large yellow flames in front of me that are moving rapidly in the large fireplace.

As I gaze into the flames I lose myself and find myself recalling our argument and realisation hits me hard and I immediately realise that this was all my fault after all I was the one that started this not Alice and I was the one that caused us both to lose our temper with each other. I'm such a pitiful excuse for a sister and a human being aren't I? It's not very long until I find myself drifting off into what I hope to be a peaceful dream.

"_Jennet Alice, Come on down your dinner is almost ready!" One of the maids called Charlotte calls out from downstairs. _

_Alice and I had been fighting slightly over what dresses we should wear in the nursery and we continued to fight like wild cats until Charlotte had called us down for tea. We hurried down the staircase wearing plain casual long-sleeved dresses. _

_Alice wore a light green dress with buttons on the front of it, with black tights, and a pair of black buckled up shoes. Her hair was lying down with a few ribbons in her hair it was fashionable after all and she wore a lovely black cardigan over her just in case she got cold. _

_I, on the other hand wore a long-sleeved black dress that had a zip at the back of it, a pair of black tights and a pair of black shoes. At the time I was nine and Alice was thirteen years old. When we came downstairs into the dining room as always Alice got a warm smile from our parents, I got a scowl from mother and a faint smile from father. _

_Mother hated the fact that I had a habit of wearing black dresses in the house she thought it was an awful colour to wear around the house unless we were attending a funeral or something apart from that she disliked the colour but to me I found it quite pleasing and I felt comfortable in this colour. _

"_Honestly: Charlotte could you not have dressed my daughter in something more pleasing to my taste?" Mother complained. _

"_Sorry madam when I told the girls earlier to go and get changed into something nice for dinner she refused to wear anything colourful except black." Charlotte explained. She was quite a plump woman but she had a good heart in her to be fair. She had black hair that was always seen tied back in a tight bun, dark green eyes, pale ivory skin and always wore a white apron around her plump waist, a blue long -sleeved dress, a pair of dark brown shoes that were often hidden by the length of her dress or I should say uniform instead. _

"_When you say 'she' you mean Jennet. Honestly Charlotte I do not know why my husband hired you in the first place you really are useless at your job." As you can imagine by now my mother disliked Charlotte and she was also displeased with her work also. She always found something to complain about to the poor girl. Probably: because she was fat and not skinny like the other maids in the household. _

"_Please madam don't fire me, I need this job. I promise I'll do better please." Charlotte begged. She was a girl of twenty-three years old and was mainly so jolly towards me. But I wasn't the only reason why she was always so jolly and cheerful all the time. _

_As you can probably imagine a girl like Charlotte had a crush on one of the men that lived in the countryside. She informed me a few months ago that he worked as a banker in one of the largest banks in a small town not too far away from where she lived. He was called Mr Forester, he was four years older than to her be précised and she had had a crush on him since the first time she had met him two years ago outside one of the banks. Perhaps you could call it love at first sight but I didn't believe in love at first sight at all. _

"_Please leave the room I shall deal with you later Charlotte." My mother dismissed her from the dining room while Alice and I sat down patiently in our seats remaining quiet as we waited for mother to say grace due to the fact that papa was not here, he had been away on business in London._

_I watched for a moment until Charlotte left the dining room shutting the door behind her I heard her footsteps walk down the corridor somewhere outside the dining room and I couldn't help but wonder if mother had been too harsh on her this time. I recalled when I was seven years old the last time mother had told her off she had left the poor girl sobbing in misery and only father had the decency to stand up to my witch of a mother and tell her off. He assured Charlotte that there was nothing to worry about and she wouldn't lose her job. _

"_Now girls shall we eat our dinner?" It came out more like a statement than a question in my opinion._

"_Mother should we not say grace first?" I pointed out._

"_Father is not here Jennet so we shall not thank the lord for giving us food." She snapped almost. _

_I knew better than to argue with her on this because I knew what I would get if I did argue with her. I wondered why we had been summoned so early downstairs for dinner._

"_Now, the reason why I had summoned you two down for dinner so early is because we are having a party this Friday and also there will be a few businessmen coming to the house on Friday." Mother said dipping her spoon into the tomato soup that I presumed was cold by now._

"_What are we celebrating?" I choked out._

"_Honestly Jennet you have got to stop stuttering out your words like that. We are celebrating your father's return." She replied._

"_You mean father's coming home when mother?" Alice butted in._

"_He's coming home this Friday and this is why we are holding the party, and I suppose you two will have to get new dresses to please him and the ones around you on the night." She responded._

"_Yay: father's coming home!" I watched Alice jump out of her seat with joy and take hold of my hands, pulling me up to my feet again and like two wild little toddlers we danced out of the room and back upstairs we went like two excited girls that couldn't wait to see our father again. _


End file.
